Duncan Samuel

Want to stop gazumping, Sajid Javid?

When Communities Secretary Sajid Javid earlier this week asked the industry for evidence on how to stop gazumping, reduce time wasting and increase commitment, little did he realise there is already a proptech start-up that says it is the answer. Gazeal, a platform that binds both vendor and buyer together when they are ready to agree a deal, prevents either side “walking away or moving the goalposts”, it says. Gazeal says it believes the fall-through for UK property sales is even higher than the government research published by Sajid Javid on Sunday, which pointed to between a quarter and a third of all sales falling through. Stop gazumping The government research said nearly 40% of buyers who withdraw do so for personal reasons, while 13% do so because they have been gazumped, 10% becaues the vendor withdrew without explanation and 9% because the chain collapsed elsewhere. But sellers have a different view. The government research revealed that they said of sales that do collapse, 35% did so after the buyer withdrew for personal reasons, while 28% fell apart because the buyer didn’t have sufficient funds lined up. Duncan Samuel, Managing Director of Gazeal (pictured, below), says that gazumping is on…